chevette HSR

>c hevette HSR
Andrew Bushe, Frank O’Mahoney,
Bertie Law and Jimmy McRae
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the correct line at reasonable speed.” The last time
Russell drove the car was on the 1983 RAC Rally where
he was in a superb third behind Blomqvist and Mikkola’s works
Quattro’s, and having an enthralling battle with Jimmy’s Manta.
Russell rolled on an corner which had the warning arrows
removed, dropping to fifth, and ironically Terry Kaby ended his
association with the works Chevette’s by rolling terminally on
the same corner. Frank O’ Mahoney’s HSR continued to turn
many corners after Russell had finished with it. Lancastrian
Cyril Bolton ran it in 1984, and Frank acquired the car a few
years later. Indeed Frank very nearly won the Irish National
Rally Series in 1988 in the car, just beaten by Ken Colbert. The
car then dropped a valve on the 1989 Cork “20” and it lay in
Frank’s garage until 1999, when he hauled it out and brought it
to Kenny McKinstry for a full rebuild. The McKinstry team have
done an excellent restoration job on the car and Frank would
very much like to be back out onto the stages in the car in the
very near future.
It was Frank’s car, that first stimulated my interest in the
HSR Chevette’s as I stood with my dad, aged three watching
Russell Brookes win the Circuit in this car, and I have always
had a soft spot for them especially in a country that has a
weird obsession with MK 2 Escorts. Yawn!
CVA 751V is actually the third works Chevette we have
owned. We recently parted with an ex Airikkala car to help
finance my own rallying, and CVA is a car which we have largely
tidied up ourselves since we bought it ten years ago and I must
say that it isn’t quite as immaculate as the other cars featured.
But nevertheless it is in full working order with an all steel
2.6 stroker kitted unit similar to Bertie Law’s machine. CVA
has particular significance to Jimmy as it’s the car he won the
1980 Circuit of Ireland and Donegal rallies in and was the first
works HSR ever to be built by DTV, whereas Frank O Mahony’s
was the last and Bertie Law’s was built alongside ours, having
a consecutive chassis number! Jimmy had driven the car,
christened the “Plastic Fantastic”in its heyday briefly before,
at the Stormont Festival in 2000, but today he was to get a
real run in it. It was to be the first time Jimmy would get to
sample one of Bill Blydenstein’s stroker kits, and it was twenty
five years since Jimmy last drove for the works team. Nutts
Corner was the ideal venue for the test with its mixture of fast
and slow corners, and the Chevette was warmed up for its first
run.
I was lucky enough to be the first into the hot seat,
alongside my childhood hero Jimmy McRae. I was not to be
disappointed as we set off on the first lap. Immediately Jimmy
was getting the feel of the car, and braked late into the very
first right hander. Coming out of the horseshoe he was even
experimenting with left foot braking to get the exit speed
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as fast as possible, but on lap two he really started to motor.
Jimmy’s natural car control and style was extremely impressive,
as he heeled and toed the car beautifully down through the
gearbox into the tight right hander at the top. Every gear
change was precise, fast but not rushed and Jimmy looked
totally unflustered behind the wheel of a car that he has hasn’t
driven in over twenty years! He was really flinging the car into
the bottom corners, flicking the Chevette about and creating a
superb drift out of the final corner onto the back straight. His
speed was picking up amazingly fast and it was a real masterclass. It was then that I realised just how good a driver Jimmy
was, and is! Not only was he sliding the car around, braking
very late and going extremely quickly, but his smoothness and
car sympathy was extraordinary. There was no fuss going down
through the box, and the 2.6 whose peak rev range is 7500 was
never in danger of over revving. I really could see why Jimmy
was able to win so many Circuit of Ireland rallies. Not only has
he the speed, but the ability to preserve the car, whilst others
including the flying Finns such as Vatanen, Mikkola, Salonen and
Toivonen were putting their cars into banks or breaking them.
For me though it was an experience of a lifetime and Jimmy was
clearly really enjoying the run. “This is great,” he said in the
middle of one big drift! The Nutts Corner track was brilliant for
this test and provided plenty of opportunities to wag the HSR’s
tail. It is such a shame that this motorsporting facility is under
threat of closure, and there is a forum to place your views on
the Antrim Council website, so get clicking now to save one of
our motorsporting institutions.
It was now my dad’s turn for a run next and Jimmy really put
the hammer down even more, and it was fantastic to see a DTV
Chevette being driven properly again, and full of the rack. An
extremely heavy rack I might add, as Chevette’s are notoriously
heavy. “Yes it’s just hard to remember how heavy these type of
cars were. You definitely get spoilt with power steering.” I can’t
imagine what it was like for the five day Circuit of Ireland!
All too soon the afternoon was over, Jimmy being whisked
off to get the plane back to Scotland, having very kindly taken
time out to come to Ireland and see the Chevettes. Twenty five
years on, the technology and nature of rallying has changed
drastically, but Jimmy McRae has changed little. Not only
could he still show the current generation of rally drivers a
trick or two, but they could also learn from Jimmy’s manner
and friendliness, which has remained totally unaltered by his
rallying successes. It really was an honour to have Jimmy
back in Ireland and back with the works Chevette’s he made so
famous. For me this all goes down to make the Lanark man, one
of the greatest rally drivers of all time, and apparently he has
some relations called Colin and Alister who are quite good
too!